Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(31)

Hades nodded curtly and strode to the table. He pulled out a high-backed chair that sat in front of one of the two place settings near the end of the massive marble expanse, and motioned for Lina to take her seat.

"Thank you," Lina said, smoothing the silky folds of her skirt as she sat. She'd been so entranced by the chandeliers and the candelabrums that she hadn't even noticed the beautiful china and crystal dishware.

Eurydice had fol owed Iapis from the room, leaving Lina alone with the God. She smiled nervously at him and tried not to fidget. Hades had changed his clothes. His robes were as expansive, and just as black as the toga-like attire, but these were trimmed in an intricate silver-edged design. His hair was stil tied back in the same thick queue, but he was minus the cape. Any other man would have looked ridiculous and probably even effeminate in such an Errol Flynn-meets-Zorro-meetsGladiator outfit. Hades did not.

"I hope your chamber is to your liking."

Good, Lina thought. She'd just make conversation with him. Like he was a normal man.

"It's lovely - just like the rest of your palace," Lina said, "Iapis tel s me that I have you to thank for the warm welcome of fresh flowers and a newly drawn bath. Thank you, everything was just perfect. It's like I was an invited guest instead of one who barged in al on her own." She gave him a chagrined smile.

Hades thought he had never seen anything as beautiful as the embarrassed flush that warmed her cheeks, and he suddenly felt himself doing something he hadn't done in centuries. He smiled, leaned forward, captured Persephone's hand and raised it to his lips.

"You are most welcome here, Goddess of Spring."

Lina thought she might fal off her chair. In forty-three years she had never had a man kiss her hand. She wasn't sure of the correct protocol. Did she leave her hand in his? Did she pull it out?

Hel ! What she real y wanted to do was to kiss him back. Instead, she felt her mouth form what was probably a goofy smile.

"Th-thank you," she stuttered.

Hades dropped her hand and looked away from her. Impulsive! He was acting like an impulsive fool. She was a Goddess; he could never al ow himself to forget that. Lina watched his expression change and a hardness settle on his features. What was wrong? It wasn't logical, but Lina had a sudden thought that this aspect of Hades - this stern, expressionless God - was a facade he drew over himself as a cover. But why?

Merda, just listening to her thoughts made her want to slap her own face and tel herself to snap out of it! When had her disciplined, well -ordered mind begun having such delusions of romance?

She knew the answer already. It had been that damn narcissus...

Uncomfortable silence crouched between them.

Think of something to say, she ordered herself. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"It's interesting what you said about chrysocol a. I don't know very much about the properties of stones." She glanced up at the bril iantly lighted chandeliers. "For instance, I think diamonds are beautiful, but I have no idea about their properties."

"Diamonds are complex gems." Hades' gaze turned upward, too, and as he warmed to the subject of precious stones his voice began to lose its hard edge. "They promote courage and healing and strength. When worn by warriors they can actual y increase physical strength, which is why some mortal cultures go to war wearing them set within armbands of platinum or silver."

"And al this time I've only thought of them as a girl's best friend," Lina quipped.

"Are they the gem you prefer?" Hades asked.

Lina opened her mouth to give him an automatic yes!, but his penetrating gaze stopped her. Something in his eyes said she should think about her answer more careful y. She closed her mouth and reconsidered.

She didn't have many diamonds. Actual y, the only diamonds she'd ever worn had been gifts from her ex-husband. She frowned, remembering how her beautiful, expensive wedding ring, with its large center diamond surrounded by a wealth of glittering baguettes, had become a symbol of bondage rather than of fidelity. Her diamond earrings had been a guilt-induced gift given to her after one of his drunken tirades because he found the growing success of her bakery intimidating. The diamond necklace and gaudy cocktail ring had belonged to his mother - a shal ow, manipulative woman who had never liked Lina. Every time she'd worn either of the pieces she had felt shackled to her husband's cold, aloof family. Consequently, she'd stopped wearing them long before she'd stopped being his wife.

When she bought jewelry for herself she never even considered diamonds. She smiled as she thought about the lovely, dangling earrings she'd gifted herself on her last birthday. Yes, they would definitely qualify as her favorite stone.

"Amethyst," she said firmly. "My favorite gemstone is amethyst. What are its properties?" Hades looked surprised, but not displeased. "Amethyst is a spiritual stone, with absolutely no negative side effects or associations with violence or anger. It is the stone of peace. It calms fears and raises hopes. Amethyst soothes emotional storms. Even in situations of potential danger it can come to your aid. It is a wise choice as your talisman."

"I'm so glad to know that." She grinned at him. "No wonder I've always loved it." The Goddess's beauty stunned Hades. When she smiled she shined brighter than the diamonds over their heads. His stomach tightened. He had forgotten the power of a goddess's beauty and its overwhelming al ure. His response to her was basic, his need raw. He felt his buried passion stir, and desires he thought he had entombed eons ago began to stretch, and breathe. Hades felt powerless in the wake of the surge of foreign emotions.